Small Grants & Ambassador’s Fund Program

The program aims to support small-scale projects in the education and civic participation sectors. As of October 2016, the program has received 615 applications since its resumption in November 2014, with 459 applications in the education sector, including 220 applications for the "Let Girls Learn" initiative. The program has reviewed and submitted 507 applications to USAID for further action, with 499 applications reviewed by USAID. Of these, 92 applications have been cleared for processing, while 8 applications are in the review process at USAID. Since the execution of contract modification No. 24 on April 15, 2016, the program has conducted initial reviews and served non-compliance letters to 40 applicants. The program has submitted 2 fully processed grant summaries to USAID, bringing the total number of grant summaries submitted to 84. USAID has decided 75 cases and awarded 53 grants, with 9 summaries pending final decision. The total number of approved grants stands at 101, with 56 completed or closed, 43 ongoing, and 1 recently approved grant in process at SGAFP. During the reporting month, the program disbursed US$ 467,126 to 18 grantee organizations, bringing the cumulative disbursement to US$ 14.58 million against approved grant funds of US$ 20.88 million. The program staff conducted 38 monitoring visits to 26 ongoing grants to monitor the quality of work, ensure transparency in the utilization of funds, and offer technical support to grantees. The program has also submitted an advance request for operations and grants for the month of November 2016. An event calendar attached as Annex VII indicates the opening ceremony of nine grants and the closing ceremony of one grant. The program's grant cycle management has achieved the following milestones: - 615 applications received since the program's resumption in November 2014 - 547 applications completed the desk review process - 507 applications submitted to USAID for further action - 499 applications reviewed by USAID - 92 applications cleared for processing - 8 applications in the review process at USAID - 84 grant summaries submitted to USAID - 53 grants awarded by USAID - 101 approved grants in total - US$ 14.58 million disbursed against approved grant funds of US$ 20.88 million The program's pre-award process since the resumption in November 2014 has seen significant progress, with a total of 615 applications received. The program has also made significant strides in the pre-award process till suspension in June 2013, with 1,066 concept papers received and logged, and 407 concept papers submitted to USAID for review.